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Allison One questions


Guest retreatwi

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Guest retreatwi

Hi,

I bumped into a pair of original Allison One speakers

at a garage sale over the weekend. It looks like the

tweeters were replaced on one speaker. The foam

surrounds on the woofers was rotted away and the dust

covers are pushed in. Other than that, they looked in

pretty good shape.

I may try to replace the foam and see how they work. Should I do that? Should I buy new replacements? If so, which woofers? Is there supposed to be stuffing all around the woofers inside the cabinet? I don't know because the woofers are out of the speakers.

thanks

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>Hi,

>I bumped into a pair of original Allison One speakers

>at a garage sale over the weekend. It looks like the

>tweeters were replaced on one speaker. The foam

>surrounds on the woofers was rotted away and the dust

>covers are pushed in. Other than that, they looked in

>pretty good shape.

>

>I may try to replace the foam and see how they work. Should I

>do that? Should I buy new replacements? If so, which woofers?

>Is there supposed to be stuffing all around the woofers inside

>the cabinet? I don't know because the woofers are out of the

>speakers.

>

>thanks

Hi there

The rare tweeters are sometimes available on ebay if you wish the originals.

The woofers, if you decide to buy new ones, are not exactly the same as the older ones.

This would be a last ditch effort I feel.

They also are very rare and also might be available on ebay.

If you have a knack for repairing things you should be able to re-foam your woofers.

First off check the continuity of the woofer with a VOM.

If the woofer is rated at 8 ohms, it should read somewhere around 5.5 ohms +/-, a 4 ohm woofer rated speaker is around 2.75 ohm +/-.

With a woofer laying on a carpeted workbench cone up, see if you can gently press the woofer cone downward.

If it has some surround supporting the cone it sure helps.

Otherwise, you want to get the feel that there is no rubbing of the voice coil and the magnet.

If you can slightly wobble the cone off axis, the rubbing does start, you can go to the next step.

Carefully, using a sharp box cutter, cut out the cone dome without cutting the cone or the leads.

There is a strong magnetic field so do use caution.

You can now gently lift the cone evenly up slightly and look at the voice coil as it rises from the gap to check it for over heating.

Don't pull it out of the gap though.

With no indications of scorching and with no obvious rubbing you may wish to re-foam them.

You can now use shims with the dented domes removed and also buy replacement dust domes.

You must specify the model of woofer but the re-foam kits are readily available, and our help is also.

Good luck

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Guest retreatwi

Hi, Vern

So, you think I should repair the woofers as long as they check out ok when inspected? I'm not so concerned over the tweeters. I'm thinking the man who owned them wouldn't have put in crap tweeters as a replacement. I'm going to do as you said and test the woofers. They are sticky. It will take a while to clean them up to the bare metal. But, I like projects.

If the woofers aren't working properly, can you suggest a comprable replacement?

thanks for the advice.

Dan

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>Hi, Vern

>So, you think I should repair the woofers as long as they

>check out ok when inspected? I'm not so concerned over the

>tweeters. I'm thinking the man who owned them wouldn't have

>put in crap tweeters as a replacement. I'm going to do as you

>said and test the woofers. They are sticky. It will take a

>while to clean them up to the bare metal. But, I like

>projects.

>

>If the woofers aren't working properly, can you suggest a

>comprable replacement?

>

>thanks for the advice.

>Dan

Hi Dan

I had hoped others would have jumped in with advice but here I go again with another 2 1/2 cents worth.

I didn't comment on the insulation in the enclosure because there are others with more factual information than I.

If you can't or won't get involved with re-foaming the surrounds, there is speaker repair shops in almost every city, that will do it for a fee.

The surround kits are around the $20.00 mark on ebay for example.

I took about 1 1/2 hours for my first surround and 10 minutes for my second.

I did this with AR 12" woofers but it is very similar work and materials.

Anticipate about $80 - 100.00 for a pair done in a shop.

If you haul the enclosure to them they will probably charge more than if you just take the woofers.

The reason is removing and re-installing the woofers.

The proper job is that option because otherwise they can usually only test the finished speakers in the open air without the cabinet loading.

If the voice coil is close to rubbing on the bench it might not be noticeable until it goes into the sealed enclosure and is given a good test.

Looking on ebay would be another choice but they are rarely seen in auctions.

Besides, you might end up buying a pair that need re-foaming as well, or worse they might be burnt as well.

The last option would be buying a new replacement woofer(s) from, the Allison Corp if they are here now.

If you read other write-ups of recent times there was a comment about if Allison was re-structuring or not, I believe.

I am making a wild guess that a new Allison woofer would run $100 - 200.00 each if available.

Good luck, Dan.

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Guest retreatwi

I'm going to refoam them myself. I'll just take my time and clean them up really well. Right now they are pretty sticky. I'm going to put on new dust covers too. If that doesn't work out, I'll just keep my eyes peeled for a deal on new or used woofers with the same specs. The new Allison replacements for the Ones are $128 each on the Allison web site. Way too steep for me. I'm hoping refoaming will be sufficiant.

thanks again, Vern

Dan

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>I'm going to refoam them myself. I'll just take my time and

>clean them up really well. Right now they are pretty sticky.

>I'm going to put on new dust covers too. If that doesn't work

>out, I'll just keep my eyes peeled for a deal on new or used

>woofers with the same specs. The new Allison replacements for

>the Ones are $128 each on the Allison web site. Way too steep

>for me. I'm hoping refoaming will be sufficiant.

>

>thanks again, Vern

>Dan

Hi Dan;

If you follow my suggestions confirming no rubbing, continuity, etc, you should be very successful re-foaming them.

Patience and never fear asking for advice.

If Allison Inc. is up and running again, Roy Allison, himself, was brought back for startup consultation, if I remember right.

I seems that some material or parts weren't available to manufacture the exact OEM parts.

I am sure Roy would not let anything substandard be used, so if no one else comes to your aid on this web site, then if all else fails I would buy from Allison.

Do keep your eyes on ebay and other places.

TomT is a very competent member, who, may wish to add to this write-up.

The original tweeters were an Allison OEM dome tweeter, which I bought several new ones back about 8 - 10 years ago.

Interesting design.

Above all else consider fusing your investment.

Good luck.

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Hi, Dan

There is no new replacement woofer for the original Allison One 10¡± 4 Ohms woofers. The Allison Acoustic woofers came much later years were different breed with much thicker spider and different characteristic by itself. Even though the salesman said you should buy 4 and drop them in, they are not the same! The only option you have is to re-foam with the wide half roll 10¡± foam surrounds to all 4 woofers which is different than the standard 10¡± foam surround sell by most venders. One thing you should check if the spider quality is still bouncy and solid. The Allison woofers if located in high humidity area without the foam surrounds to block out the moisture, the extra thin spider cloth material will turn crumble and torn easily! If this is the case, it will be a waste of money, time and efforts to repairs 4 woofers which would normally take me 2 days to work on! The black butyl latex that painted on the woofer's cone, dust cap, foam surround and woofer basket frame edge make them so difficult to manage while working! Four right size 10¡± foam surround with a bottle of glue cost $40 + shipping. Let me know if you want to purchase a set from me.

Like the original AR-9 speakers, the Allison One speaker doesn¡¯t have any fiberglass stuffing filled at the area where the two woofers backed at an angle to each other so don¡¯t try to grab some extra fiberglass or poly fiber stuffing and fill up the space. It will affect the bass.

Minh Luong

post-101112-1128149221.jpg

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Hi, Vern

The prettier Allison tweeter with metal mesh protecting screen over the convex dome has slightly different spec and materials compare to the Original Allison One tweeter. If you must use them then use them in pair for both speakers.

Minh Luong

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Guest retreatwi

Hi, Minh

I appreciate the very informative post, but I have a few questions for you. Looking back, I assumed the woofers were original. Is there any way to be 100% sure they are the originals? Any markings I should look for? What is the spider and how do I check it to be sure it is ok? Like you said, if they are shot, I don't want to waste my time and money refoaming the woofers. The woofers are pretty sticky. What is that black butyl latex for? The dust covers are pushed in. Would it be best for me to try to work them out, or just cut them off and replace them? Do you have a web site? Are you a speaker repair man? That is good to know that they didn't have any stuffing in the cabinets.

Looking forward to your response.

Dan

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Take a close up look at the spider of one woofer. If the dull orange fabric is thin with wiggle lines printed randomly on the spider then this is the original Allison woofer. I think this unique printed pattern on the Allison woofer is like a trade mark or something.

I service woofer refoam jobs on limited bases for $130 a pair plus return shipping. I service mainly to the people I know who demand the best possible result and not how cheap or how fast can I deliver the job. The before and after picture of Allison One woofers inpreviously posted were done by me. I will cut open the dust cap to center the voice coil when I re foam the woofer so the cave in problem will not be an issue but the dust cap will remain a little bit of wrinkle mark on it.

The painted butyl latex all over the cone and dust cap is to dampen the resonance. The butyl latex over the foam surround is to pro long the rotted process of the foam surround. Some of the better kept Allison speakers and AR-3a speakers have perfect looking foam surround from the front but on the back they all turn crumble and powdered years ago. So don¡¯t kid yourself and take chances by not replacing them with new foam surrounds.

Minh Luong

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Guest retreatwi

Minh,

I will check the condition of the spiders tonight. I do know the fabric is sort of brittle. It makes a krinkling noise when I move the cone up and down. I don't know if they are supposed to be soft. I'm pretty sure I will be ordering the surrounds from you. I'm going to clean everything first when I can find some spare time. Probably this month. Thanks for the informative resonse.

Dan

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